As another longtime composer trying to expand my knowledge of orchestral composition, I would like to pass on a few things I've learned the hard way. Maybe you know all or most of this stuff, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Checking System Resources: Go on YouTube and learn about orchestral templates, if you haven't already. Make a full template of all the instruments in Symphonic Orchestra, including all articulations. (I'm not sure the best way to do that in Play, but there are lots of people here who can help you.) Create an epic project--it doesn't have to even be music, just a lot of MIDI tracks. See if your computer chokes--are there clicks, etc during playback. If so, then your options for your first purchased DAW are pared down: you only have to choose from libraries like Amadeus and Inspire that are designed to work on a limited system.

On the other hand, if your template works and you decide to stick with Symphonic Orchestra, it's won't have been a wasted exercise as it's likely to be helpful to your workflow, at least starting out. Maybe not, but if you put your energy into learning a library that your computer can't fully use, then you are headed for an expensive computer upgrade.

Of course, if you keep going with your study, you are going to be spending money on your computer. What you will learn from following this forum is that most pros have very fast CPUs with SSDs and tons of RAM, often including one or more slave computers connected by VE Pro ($300)

Save Money: Very few people in this world ever pays list price. There are regular sales that discount libraries by 30% to as much as 90%. You can find out about them in the two deals forums here, but the most comprehensive information I've found is here. There are big sales on Black Friday/Christmas and Summer, but the truth is that they now go on all year round. There are also stores that have deals all the time, like JRRShop and AudioDeluxe, with increased discounts if you know the codes. My strategy is to research and figure out what I really want to purchase, and then wait for the sale.

Full Kontakt: IMHO this should be your next purchase after your first orchestral library. Wait until the summer and you can get it for half price or even less. It comes with an excellent library of instruments of all types, and once you have it, you can get hundreds more quality instruments for free or for a few dollars. For example, @Bill the Lesser suggested you pick up the free Palette Primary Colors library, but it only works with Full Kontakt. Organic Samples just released a beautiful horn for 2 euros. (fyi, these libraries will work in Kontakt Player for 15 minutes at a time)

More importantly, many of the best paid Kontakt libraries and instruments are only available if you have Full Kontakt.

Good luck! You are definitely on the right path by coming to this forum. I would never have made the progress I have made today without all the advice from the knowledgable and generous people here.

The template was a good suggestion. My computer can't handle more than a couple articulations per instrument using multiple instances of Play.

In the song I shared, I specifically tried using only 2 articulations (spiccatos and sustains), and it almost worked, other than the staccato arpeggio. Orchestral Essentials provides staccatos, while Cinesymphony LITE offers spiccatos... hmm. Amadeus has both, but I wonder how the sample quality compares.

I wonder whether instead of purchasing Orchestral Essentials 1 tomorrow for my first orchestral library, I should get British Drama Toolkit or Alternative Strings because they're on sale... and Spitfiiiiirrreeee. Watching demos currently...

I wonder whether instead of purchasing Orchestral Essentials 1 tomorrow for my first orchestral library, I should get British Drama Toolkit or Alternative Strings because they're on sale... and Spitfiiiiirrreeee. Watching demos currently...

BDT is probably too much like a texture pad for a first and only library. Alternative strings looks awesome, but all the demos are so alternative lol, I wonder whether it could be used more traditionally. It has regular spiccatos and legatos, just none of the demos show them much.

[Edit] Idk, as much as I'd like my first library to be from Spitfire and a solo string quartet could be interesting to start with, I think I'm still gonna go with Orchestra Essentials 1. It's probably a better starting point, and I won't run the risk of getting upset that I only purchased strings, and that I purchased strings that aren't necessarily bread and butter.